VOGONS


First post, by dirkmirk

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ASUS P2-BL (I think, intel 440bx chipset)
Pentium 2 350mhz
64meg PC100 (need to upgrade more for windows)
PCI S3 Virge DX
Ensoniq Soundscape
Roland MPU-401/MPU-IPC-T with breakout box
20GB Maxtor D740XL (quickish hard disk)
36X CD-ROM (Asus I think)
FAT 16
DOS 6.22
Windows 98SE
USB adsl modem (shared with my main computer)
17 inch LG LCD (L1752T, shared with main computer)
Logitech Z4's (again shared with main computer)

I've the box next to my main pc connected to KVM 2 port switch, I've got most things sorted with my pc except the soundcard.

I used to have a DB50XG until an old soundcard fried it upon the first bootup, I have Vibra 16 labeled "CT2501" which I belive is non plug and play, this is the sound card I plan to replace the soundscape with but I will need a midi daughterboard or sound module.

Since i've bought the mpu-401 card I might as well use it I figure, I was thinking about an MT-32 or SC-55, I mostly play the newer dos games from the early to mid 90's rather than pre-90, in that case I assume the SC-55 would be the better choice as it supports General MIDI better than the MT-32?

Lastly the S3 Virge appears to be a decent video card as I can play Quake or Blood at about 800x600 no problems, I tried an 8meg AGP Trident Blade 3D and the performance was horrible in Blood, otherwise I've got a 16meg VOODOO 3 3000 PCI not sure whether that would be a better card for DOS or not, it might end up in the system as Ive got windows 98.

Basically I've got a P2 to play SVGA games and simulators, it probably still overkill for dos but I dont think that will hurt.

any thoughts or critiques would be much appreciated.

Reply 1 of 1, by StickByDos

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Welcome to the forum

P2B-L is a good 440BX mobo.

I'd like to install a port switch because I'm lacking of space, you can use your computer both at the same time, switching them with a key.

Your mobo has an agp slot, why don't you use it ?

S3 have good compatibility with dos game but are slow for 3D
Voodoo3 would be better if you play win98 3D games and their pci version don't loose many performance compared with agp since they only use agp as a fast pci slot. They have good dos compatibility too but they are lacking 15bpp video mode, which is not needed for many games.

For the most recent games your cpu can support, you can use an agp geforce, good dos compatibility but they have lager bios (49kB instead of 32kB ) = less umb

You can switch between apg and pci graphic card throught the bios

SC-55 is the best choice for dos games since 1993

Type win to loose the power of your computer !